100 Million (GBP) Boost for UK Companies

18 March 2005

Science and Innovation Minister, Lord Sainsbury, today announced £100 million for the next round of the Technology Programme with automotive, energy and aerospace sectors set to benefit.

Lord Sainsbury urged UK firms and research communities to get ready to apply for the latest competition of funding from the DTI's £320 million Technology Programme, which enables businesses to take new ideas off the drawing board and into the marketplace.

A new feature of the Technology Programme will be £30 million specifically targeted to create demonstrators of next generation technologies in industries like aerospace and automotive. Tackling issues like climate change is also at the forefront, with zero emission enterprises and emerging energy technologies highlighted as priority areas.

Lord Sainsbury said: ""to keep Britain at the leading edge of the global economy it is essential that we invest in new technologies. This £100 million investment gives vital support to groups of innovative businesses and research organisations taking forward emerging technologies that will create competitive advantage and benefit a number of companies and sectors.""

The £100 million of funding will be available for companies to carry out Collaborative Research and Development in eight high-priority technology areas. They are:

Advanced Materials: high performance materials in extreme and hostile environments. Materials that are reliable and effective under severe operational conditions, such as aggressive or safety critical environments;

Biopharmaceutical bioprocessing - a key technology that uses a wide range of techniques in the development and manufacturing of bioscience-based medicines;

Advanced Manufacturing: Direct writing - a technology used to produce or deposit materials on complex two or three-dimensional structures;

Advanced Manufacturing: Next generation lasers aimed at the manufacturing, healthcare and security industries;

Emerging Energy Technologies - technologies that can help the sustainable development of new and renewable energy sources;

Zero Emission Enterprise - developing new technologies to reduce or eliminate creation of wastes, find new ways to re-use and recover waste products, treatment of hazardous wastes, and finding new alternatives to landfill;

Validation of Complex Systems - aims to maximise the exploitation of complex assembly systems, especially useful in sectors such as automotive, aerospace and energy; and

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